Improved mode of construction of piers



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

y GEORGE A. PARKER, OF LANCASTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVED MODE oF czolJsTRUo-rloNv oF PIERS, sto.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 41,935, dated March 15, 1864.

for temporary or permanent use where piles` cannot be driven, or where stone-work would be too expensive, difficult, or impracticable; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying draw` ings,`and to the letters of reference marked,` thereon.

Figure l is a side View of my invention in connection with a section of a caisson placed on a suspended platform in position for low- `ering to the foundation of the proposed struct-v Eig. 2 is an end view of my invention in connection with afinished bridge-pier. Eig. f 3 is a plan of my invention in connection with ure.

a plan of one-half of a finished bridge-pier with the coping removed. Eig. et is an eleva-` tion on a larger scale of a single section of my invention, and shows in detail the composition of one of a series of hollow cylindricah columns.

Similar letters in the several figures indicate l until the iioored surface of each pier shall be- 'corresponding parts.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe its construction and mode of operation.

In the accompanying drawings, A repre- `sents an uneven rocky bottom. B B B`l B3 rep- 1 resent the several courses of a timber platf form. C C' C2 C3 represent the several sec- D represents the coping- E represents the stone-work. f F represents the lowering machinery of ai G represents a hollow cylinv tions of a caisson. course of stone.

bridge-pier.

drical column. H represents a male screw fitting into a nut within the column G at its lower extremity. K represents a wrench wherewith to turn the screw H. L represents tension-rods fastened by lugs M to the column G, and connected by swivels N. O represents a stay-bar uniting the cylindrical columns, to which it is fastened by screw-bolts P. Q represents tie-beams, which connect said columns together' at the top. R represents the door-timbers. S represents adjustable connectingrods that bind together two portable constructingpiers.

In constructing bridge-piers or other sub- 'aqueous structures on a rocky bottom where the caisson is used, or where the solid pier is to be lowered, the mode of operating with my invention is as follows:

Two portable piers are employed-one on each side of the proposed structureand fastened together, as shown in the drawings. Each of said piers is put together on a float at or near its proposed position for use. Said piers may be built in sections and fastened together under water by divers 5 or they may be completely put together and made rigid upon a float at the'side ofthe proposed structure. VThese piers may be lowered to the bottom by several modes-first, by suspending each of them, by means of a windlass, on a gallows-frame resting upon twofloats, one on each side of said pier. When the lowering apparatus shall have been thus prepared, the

said pier should'be elevated sufficiently to' allow the withdrawal of the float whereon it was built, and it then may-be lowered to the bottom by means of the windlass. The 'corresponding pier should be lowered 'in like manner, and each pier should then be floored over. Afterward the screws I-I should be l turned upward or downward, as may be required, by the wrench K, or equivalent means,

come level, and the pier will be held in its place by forcing the screws into the bed of the stream in holes previously drilled for that purpose, or otherwise, after which both of said piers should be fastened together, as shown in the drawings.

The second process of sinking saidpiers is as follows: On each side of the proposed struct- 4ure a oat is stationed, and pieces of timber or other supports laid across from one oat to the other, upon which the lowest'section'of said pier is put together, and afterward raised by means of a windlass, as before described, sufficiently high to permit the withdrawal of the supports, and then lowered to such a degree that its upper part shall extend a short distance above the surface of the water, in which position it should be sustained and held by supports laid across from one oat to the other and passing under the upper course of stay-bars. Another section of the pier is built lupon the lowest, andthe same mode of sinking is repeated. A similar process of building and lowering the several sections of the `pier is carried out until the pier shall be sunk on the bottom in a complete state.

i l thanthetop of the pier, and resting on iioats, i v `one oneach side ofthepier, by means of screws turning in nuts fastened to said. piers by pieces of timber or other suitable means.

`The fourth process of lowering said piers f consistsin suspending each pier from a piledriver adapted to the purpose, and lowering r it into position by blocks and falls, windlass,

or yother machinery.

The` fifth process of lowering the constructing-pier is asfollows: An ordinary stoneboat In its center is` placed a series of derricks with a boom of sufof suitable capacity is usedi iicient length to extend beyond the side of the k proposed structureto the distance `of half the width ofthe constructing-pier, with a capacity in each derrick ,of raising and sustaining four or five tons. The derricks are such as are commonly used `in stone-boats employed in bridge-construction. L y The stone-boat thus equipped is moved in a Aproper position by the side of the proposed l structure, and opposite to it is stationed a ".iiOat,` whose deck or 'upper surface is levelA with the `deck of the stoneboat, from whichit is lseparatedby a distance equal to the width t of the proposed structure.

or, other supports extend from the deck of the `stoneboat` to the float, of sufficient strength and number tosustain the constructing-pier. while in process ofbuilding or being put to-` gether. The first section of the constructingpier is put together upon these supports and` i then attached to the derricks, and raised suf` ficiently high to permit the removal of their: supports, and then lowered, so as to allow thel insertion of the same supports beneath the serted as before described.

Additional sections are built, attached to the derricks, lowered, and held in position in `like manner until the constructing-pier is linished and `rests upon the bottom of the stream, when it is adjusted to a level position by means of the screws H;

Pieces of timberi In easethe invention is designedfor permanent use as a wharf or pier, it may be necessary to drill holes in the rock for the insertion of the screws to hold the structure firmly in place, which holes can be made by divers or by longdrills worked fromthe` surface of the water.

In case it be intended to use said pier as an independent structure, either one of the processes before described may be employed to Sink it.

Before operating with my invention as a means for submerging, founding, and erecting subaqueous structures it is necessary to prepare a foundation at the bed of the Water by smoothing it off by the aid of divers, by blasting or other submarine process, or by introducing a layer` of concrete or other suitable material. j

Afterward, in the case of bridgepiers or similar fabrics, the timber platform B B B2 B3 should be floated into place between two of the portable constructiugpiers, which should thereupon befastened together in the manner shown in the drawings, `or, by equivalent justed and fixed in connection with the susmeans, and the lowering-screws should be ad pended platform, as shown in the drawings.`

The lowest section of a caisson, C, is securely placed upon the platform and built in with masonry. The screwsare then turned, andl the structure is lowered to such a distance that` its top projects a little above the surface of the water.` Another section, G,;should be ering the fabric should be repeated until the i structure shall rest upon its proper foundations and eXtendto a sufficient elevation above the surface of the Water.

When the structure resting on its founda-4 tion shall project above the surface of the water, the portable constructing-pier may be removed and used elsewhere for a similar puri pose.

secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Aportable constructingpier supported i upon and leveled or adjusted by or to the bed ofthe stream upon which it rests, substantially as and for the purpose described. 2. In combination with constructing'piers,

f either portable or permanent, the fastening of them to the bed of the stream by screws forced into the same from the top of the pier, substantially as described.

` GEO.' A. PARKER.

Witnesses:

F. LARKIN, F. E. FELTON.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to i 

